What a beauty! This beach is divine and a hidden treasure in Southwest Florida! As a native Floridian, I'm mad I've been missing out all these years as this was my first visit. I've been driving farther south to experience a lot less. Sad. The views are picture perfect, the water is great, there's absolutely nowhere to park, but make it happen and prepare to get your entire life via beach day a la Captiva! read more

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A true piece of heaven right here. We got there just in time to park and enjoy the beach. The water was simply beautiful. I only wish there were some sort of bathroom facilities besides port a John's. read more

Captiva Beach - Beaches Near Me - Captiva, Florida

About a half hour drive on the causeway from Ft Myers to this remote but lovely beach. Enjoy the scenic drive with blue-green gulf waters and lovely private homes hidden behind palm trees and lush tropical vegetation. Sea shells all over- so much fun! You see folks absorbed in finding one after the next pretty ones! But when you get to this paradise, be ready to pay a more for public beach parking. If you can find a spot! Not easy. Patience is a virtue! As of today, late August 2021, the price is $25/2 hours or $40/day. Nothing in between, like 1 hour or by the half hour. Pay by cash or credit card and display your receipt on the dashboard. I saw park services vehicle in the area. Don't get a ticket. There are no public restrooms, showers or food service. Prices are meant to keep out most ordinary citizens. Captiva is pricey, the playground for the wealthy for the most part. Private landowners enjoy private beach access. We enjoyed the shell-laden beach for two hours. It really is a beautiful stretch of beach. We drove back through Sanibel Island to the other area beaches, checking each one along the way. Most beaches on Sanibel offer parking at $5 /hour. Good for the common folk like us lol! read more

Captiva Beach - Fruit of our labor - Beaches Near Me - Captiva, Florida

Beautiful beaches on Captiva near South Seas. You'll get an amazing sunset here for sure. Parking is a tad easier up here because of the shops and restaurants. They filmed parts of sweet home Alabama up here as well. Because it's beautiful. read more

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Love Love Love Florida this area makes me want to move there so bad!! Such a beautiful spot super nice drive with beautiful homes and the beautiful water super relaxing and cute little town deep in... read more

Damn. Had high hopes for watching the sunset here but our hearts dropped when we saw parking was $25 for 2 hours (minimum). Luckily we managed to stay there for 7 minutes just to catch a glimpse of the sunset and go. But it ruined our sunset experience and made us nervous about the parking the whole time. We were expecting it to be public parking. read more

We were touring Captiva Island for the first time. We loved the island. It reminded us a little bit of the Caribbean due to all the beautiful foliage. There are lots of quaint shops and nice beaches. However, where we stopped there was a ridge of sand before it dropped to the surf. The waves were rolling and it looked like the waves were slowly washing away the lower part of the sand. It was a beautiful setting but we didn't notice any shells in this location and couldn't really walk in the surf. Perhaps, it was our timing or just specific location. It's definitely a gorgeous place to watch the sun set. read more

Captiva Beach - Beautiful place to watch the sun set - Beaches Near Me - Captiva, Florida

I wonder if the people of Captiva Island realize how small and fearful they seem to the rest of the world. I am speaking of the relatively new beach parking fees of $25/2 hours or $40/day. My God, are you that afraid of the rest of the world? Why don't you just have people give a proof of income and pedigree before you let them over the bridge? I will also mention that the people who own property like to put up gates to the beaches, some with locks on them, to indicate that they are private pathways. The ultimate in exclusion and entitlement. Keep all this in mind if you are staying in Fort Myers and thinking about going up to Captiva for dinner. Do you really want to support the island that doesn't want you there to begin with? Use your money to make a difference. Support the businesses that treat you well. Captiva is price gouging and that is not treating it's customers well. If I had the time and inclination, I would bring busloads of my most noisy and undesirable friends up to Captiva and dump them on the beach roads just to upset the status quo. Shame on you, Captiva. read more

This beach is also called Alison Hagerup Beach and is the last public beach parking area at the end of Captiva. Parking is by ticket with a 2 hour minimum. In late October, we had no trouble getting a parking spot on a weekend at 12 pm then 10 am Sunday. There are no more than 30 spots however. Facilities are portopotties. Nice beach to walk, sand is ok: grainy not powdery soft. The sand near the waterline also was gray not white. Never a fan of that personally but don't think it's oil related . There are shells along tideline and beginning of water, water slightly murky as I couldn't see my feet. We did see a bald Eagle land on a pine near the south seas resort which was cool. If you walk the beach down toward the Mucky Duck, there are rentals available. We spent 5 days here in this area, with mostly cloudy skies and pretty windy conditions. Never saw a sunset due to clouds and found the beaches to be just ok. Shelling also was good but not as fabulous as everyone seems to describe. Yes there are piles of shells but most are the same 6-7 types. I guess I expected more unique finds! I'd rate this a 3.5 if possible but bumped it to a 4 since I think if weather was better, I'd have enjoyed it more. Definitely worth checking out though! read more

Captiva Beach - Someone was busy! - Beaches Near Me - Captiva, Florida

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What a great beach! Awesome sunset! Make sure you bring a blanket yo sit on to take it all in. Lots of good shells, too. read more

Captiva Beach - Great Sunset with the Family - Beaches Near Me - Captiva, Florida

Gorgeous beach and a plenty of parking. Not crowded and worth driving from Fort Myers or any nearby area.

This was our favorite beach on this trip. Granted. after reading numerous reviews on Trip Advisor about the parking, we got up early and hightailed it here. We arrived by 9am on a Friday and there were only a few spots taken. We have a handicap placard, however you still have to pay. The water was so amazing, so crystal clear. My wife used her snorkel and mask and was able to spot a lot of shells. We stayed from 9-2pm and we got a lot of sun. There are no bathrooms or running water( no where to wash your feet off). The walk to the sand is easy and short. Go here, you won't be sorry. read more

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This is a beautiful beach to explore. The shelf is right there along the shore of the beach to stand, play and frolick on. The sand is not like sugar its more like a course ground shells and rock based matter, but it's not like walking on a bed of nails, hot coals or anything like that. The parking situation and there not being an accessible outside shower near the parking lot of the beach is undesirable and why a fifth star is out of the question. read more

Captiva Beach - Captiva Beach is so alive! - Beaches Near Me - Captiva, Florida

A solid beach area with lots to see and do without all the foot traffic. A group of us decided to go over to Captiva Beach to do some boating and check everything out. Located on the western portion of Sanibel Island, Captiva Beach is an even more exclusive area in what is already an exclusive-type of island. When driving down the street by the beach, you see lots of fun residences with funny and unique names that lets you know that you are in a vacation paradise. We decided to rent a boat from Beach Bums (a solid and well-priced boat rental shop on Captiva) and headed out into the Intercoastal. The way they set up the Intercoastal is to have various numbered signs in red and green to direct you away from the narrow areas and sand banks to ensure you get the full sailing experience. While this would seem bothersome in more crowded waters, there aren't very many people in this area, so you can still sail pretty freely despite the depth restrictions. As you are sailing down the intercoastal, you can turn out and go explore the Gulf of Mexico, stop at one of the many beautiful beaches (where there are hardly more than a few souls to be found even on busy weekends), or check out Cayo Costa State Park (which apparently has pigs that run around and hilariously try to get on boats). All of these options make for a great way to spend the afternoon hanging out in and around Captiva Beach. Overall, Captiva Beach is a beautiful beach area with lots to see and do without the large foot traffic that exists in Sanibel, let alone in Fort Myers or Naples. If you are looking for a nice secluded place where you can check out the Gulf of Mexico or Intercoastal, Captiva Beach is a great place to check out. read more

Beautiful Beach felt private: calm waters were awesome. Be ready to kayak; jet ski; and have a relaxing time.

I love this beach! Great shelling and beautiful ocean. Lots of fun wildlife to see and a great place to vacation!

I've been vacationing in Florida my entire life and Captiva Island Beach is our absolute favorite beach in Florida. First, the drive to the beach is absolutely beautiful. It's a narrow 2 lane road lined with amazing homes and the vegetation is so lush and green, you wouldn't believe you're still on the Mainland, as it looks like a road in Hawaii. Once you arrive at the end of the road, there is a small parking lot & hopefully you arrived early because the parking is extremely limited only about 30-40 spots. There are no restrooms, showers or food options available, but for me, that's part of the charm of this beach. It's not so commercialized. There's a wonderful little store for Provisioning before you settle in. They make wonderful deli sandwiches that we picked up each morning along with fruit and drinks. Yes, the sand is made mostly of ground shells but it doesn't bother me - it's the water that attracts us here. The water is turquoise blue and usually crystal clear, however the rain stirred it up some during our last visit and it was somewhat murky but I could still see about 4-5ft. We spend the majority of our day in the water swimming, snorkeling or just throwing a frisbee. Exiting the ocean can be a bit tricky as there is a pretty steep shelf where the waves crash in. I saw a couple of ladies struggle so watch out for that or ask for someone to help you out. Could be an issue for small children as well. We saw a female Bald Eagle protecting her nest directly above our spot, which was cool. All in all, we spent 3 wonderful, lazy days soaking up the sun before Alberto made his way onto the Island. We'll be back soon!!! read more

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One of the best beaches I have ever gone to, not to many people and very peaceful place!!

I want to first start off by saying this was one of the most beautiful beaches I've seen in all of my years on this earth. My wife and I went early one morning to try to catch the sunrise. Well this was the biggest mistake of our life! This entire area has these aggravating little bugs known as no see ums. We had no idea and I've never experienced anything like this at any other beach I've been to. These bugs bite and they attack you like no other. I thought they were mosquitos but they are way more vicious than mosquitos. We paid to park for 4 hours but only ended up staying 15 minutes because we were getting attacked by these bugs. Lol. I was able to take a few pics but I would have loved to be able to relax without the unwanted company of these pests! Lol. Overall, we enjoyed the brief scenery but unfortunately I wouldn't visit again because these bites are not cool! Lol. Be prepared and take something stronger than OFF! read more

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An ideal place to watch the sunset.

Beach was ok, spent almost two hours looking and waiting for parking beach access, no parking anywhere! And overpriced 5 dollars an hour? Not coming back. read more